Sheet or annealing furnace



Swat 25 H. L. B SCHRECK SHEET OR ANNEALING FURNACE File J n. 27. 1922 2Sheets-Sheet l ZA/"VE'AZZ'OR 21,4@,;&37 H. L. B. SCHRECK SHEET ORANNEALING FURNACE Sept. 25, 5923.

Filed Jan. 27, 1922 2 Sheets-=Sheet 2 Il-JVENTOR. W&i5l w HANS L. B.SCHRECK, OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA.

SHEET OR ANNEALING FURNACE.

Application filed. January 27, 1922. Serial No. 532,319.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HANS L. B. Sonnncx,

residing at Wheelin in the county of Ohio and State of West irginia, acitizen of the United States, have invented or discovered certain newand useful Improvements in Sheet or Annealin Furnaces, of whichimprovements the fol owing is a specification.

Difficulty has been experienced in the operation of sheet heating orannealing furnaces in which the sheets are moved throu' h the furnace byrollers, in maintaining t e sheets central. The feed rollers aregenerally cylindrical and unless the sheets are carefully placed in thefurnace they will move to one side or the other of the furnace, andtheir movement checked or retarded; and further, as it is the generalpractice to construct the rollers with a 'acket or covering of fineclay, they are rapi ly cut by the sheets so that some portions of therol s will have a smaller diameter than the other portions and thesheets will move laterally onto the portions having the larger diameter.

It has been attempted to prevent lateral movement of the sheets byemploying concave rolls, the middle portions being smaller in diameterthan the ends. But unless the sheets are accurately placed on suchrolls, i. e., with the center line of the sheet in line vertically withthe smallest diameter of the roll, the sheet will move laterally; andfurther, in case of a more rapid reduction india'meter of one portion ofsuch roll, the sheet will be drawn laterally by the larger portion ofthe roll.

The object of the invention described herein is to provide for themaintainance of the sheet in proper central position if propcrly fedinto the furnace, and also to move the sheet laterally into such centralosition in case it has not properly started into the furnace. It is afurther object of the invention to prevent excessive heating of therollers and consequent rapid cutting away of their surfaces by thesheets. The invention is hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Fig.1 is a sectional plan view of a sheet heating furnace having myimprovement therewith combined; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation, theplane of section being indicated by the line 11-11, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig. 2 illustrating a modification of the-improvement;Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of my improved feed roller; Fig. 5 is aview in elevation of the skeleton for such roller when a jacket ofrefractory material is employed; and Fig. 6 is a transverse section on aplane indicated by the line VIVI, Fig. 5.

In the practice of the invention-the furnace is constructed in the usualor any suitable manner, with doors at each end for the charging andremoval of the sheets to be heated. The furnace may be heated by anysuitable means using solid, liquid, or gaseous fuel. On each side of thefurnace are arranged a series of bearings for the shafts 2- 0f therolls, which may be driven by intermeshing gear wheels on the shafts 2or by chains engaging sprocket wheels on the shafts. 1

As shown, the rolls are made conical and are oppositely arranged in thefurnace, i. e., the large end of one roll being at one side of thefurnace and the large end of the next roll bein on the opposite side ofthe furnace. T e peripheral speed of the larger end of the rolls beinggreatest, it will tend to cause a lateral movement of the ortion of thesheet in contact therewith, ut when such portion has assed to the nextroller, the latter will tend to cause'an opposite lateral movement ofthe sheet, so that one roll will correct any lateral displacement due tothe action of the preceding roll.

As shown, these rolls may be arranged with the axes of the rolls in thesame horizontal plane as shown in Fig. 3, so that when a sheet reststhereon, it will be transversely curved, as in this condition the sheetswill present greater resistance to drooping when passing out ofthefurnace. In lieu of arranging the rolls With their axes in the samehorizontal (plane as above stated, they may be arrange with the axes atsuch an angle that the upper portions of their peripheries will'be in ahorizontal plane, as shown in able distances from the shaft, suchdistances being dependent on the desired diameter of the roll. It ispreferred that the ends of the pipe sections should be welded to theshaft sections and it is also preferred that the disc 3 should be madeof such diameter that the pipes 4 will rest in notches in the peripheryof the disc, which will then serve to prevent any lateral or inwardflexure of the pipes.

It will be readily understood that by employing a suflicient number ofpipes 4, say five, six or more, such skeleton roll may be used forfeeding the sheets, but if preferred, this skeleton may serve to supporta jacket of refractory material as shown in l ig. 4. The jacket may beformed by a number of hollow sections 5; these sections which areprovided interior-1y with radial notches for the reception of the pipes4, consist of sections having their ends constructed to project one intothe other. These sections are slipped endwise onto the skeleton and areheld in position by nuts 6, screwing onto threaded enlargements of theshaft section. It is preferred that two adjacent sections of the jacketshould be spaced apart to com ensate for expansion and contraction, anin order to prevent any moving back and forth of the sections, springs 8are interposed between the disc 3 and plates 9 movable along the shaftsections and bearing against internal shoulders in the jacket sections.

1 claim herein as my invention:

1. A feed rol er for furnaces having in combination a shaft havinghollow end or tions, and bent pipe sections having t eir ends connectedto the hollow portlons of the shaft.

2. A feed roller for furnaces having in combination a hollow shaft, bentpipe sections having their ends connected to the shaft, and means arraned intermediate the points of connection 0 the pipes with the shaft forpreventing the flow of cooling I fluid through the shaft.

3. A feed roller for furnaces havin in combination a shaft consisting ofho low sections, a metal disc interposed between adjacent ends of theshaft sections, bent pipes having their ends secured to the respectiveshaft sections in opposite sides of the disc.

4. A feed roller for furnaces having in combination a shaft consistingof hollow sections, bent pipes having their ends secured to therespective shaft sections, and a. disc interposed between adjacent endsof the shaft sections and -ada ted to support the pipes at pointsinterme iate their ends.

5.-A feed roller for furnaces havin in combination a shaft consisting ofbe low sections, bent pipes havin their ends secured to the respectivesections, the intermediate portions of the pipes being spaced from theshaft, and a jacket of refractory material supported by the pipes.

6. A feed roller for furnaces havin in combination a shaft consisting ofho low sections, a disc interposed between adjacent ends of saidsections, bent pipes having their ends secured to the respectivesections, tubular blocks adapted to be supported by the pipes,adjustable abutments on the shaft sections for holding the blocks inposition and springs for holding the blocks in contact while permittingexpansion of the books.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

HANS L. B. SCHRECK.

